About The Author

Paul

I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

JZ

Worlds most average photoshop. The board is too big. Dont you remember the scene when the Bats bit it after the game of chicken on the batbike?

Madison

Really? I assumed this was a photoshopped set pic immediately…

ChetLemon

set pic from Warner Bros.
printshop of board
you’re a big dummy
posted on The Chive weeks ago

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve seen the movie in a cinema in Switzerland and I’m about 90% sure that I’ve seen this scene on screen.
Maybe they photoshopped it a bit but I think there actually was Joker/Ledger ollieing/kickflipping over the unconscious Batman.
Could it be that the scene might have been deleted in some screenings?

Johnny

If that is him skating in the video, then he is regular and the photo has him skating goofy. Unless Ledger was good enough to skate switch, then one of them is fake.

Niravana

you sir (OP) are a fucking retard for assuming this is real for even a second.

haha thats awesome, im sure it was the actors just messing around on set

oldschoolskater

The board is fake everything else is real. perspective and size of board is WAY off. It would also be more in shadow if it was really in that scene… everything else has harsh shadows except the board is well lit.

Also his eyes would be looking more in the direction hes traveling not at the Batmans face.

EL PRESIDENTE INSULTO

@m.rob

Thank you, Commander-in-Chief of the obvious. Any 8 year old who has played Tony Hawk could tell you that. Valuable input, keep it up.

Chicago

This is real.
I live in Chicago and work in the loop (where this picture is).
When they were filming Batman downtown, it wasn’t at all unusual to see Heath Ledger skating around in full Joker costume. He used to skate around the loop in between scenes. He actually taught other guys on the film how to skate.
Totally real.

this picture is real, there was footage of heath skating during breaks on the set, this could very well have been arranged with the actors.

Crew Member

I worked on the dark knight. Heath spent all of his time on a skateboard while we weren’t rolling. Anyone on set knows this, and anyone watching would see him weaving in and out all the time.

charlie tuna

Heath Ledger was a known skateboarder, he made Lords of Dog Town which was about skateboarding… im pretty sure he did all his own skating in it.

There is footage on youtube of the whole crew joking around on this set, including Heath……… who was skateboarding.

Its not too much of a leap to imagine one of the batman doubles laying on the floor in the suit, while Heath jumps over him……. is it?

bob

in my opinion it’s fake, look at how his front foot is… if he was really doing a heelflip his foot would be kicked out to the side of the board not directly above it and that far back towards the tail of the board

charlie tuna

Wait actually hang on it looks pretty fake. After looking at the picture for more than 5 seconds, ive decided its the shot – from a different angle – of where the jokers henchman has tried to take the helmet off the fallen Batman, only to be electocuted. The Joker then runs up and jumps to land next to batman, spitting on his fallen henchman.

Case closed

idk

definetly a heel flip not a kick flip.. just saying 🙂

O and look at the (bright) set lights in the corner i believe it

Q

Here’s the thing about evidence B… I have (known people :)) who have tagged downtown and surprisingly the streets are damn empty late at night. Not saying its true or false… just saying.

NathanLegit

Let me point out from a film standpoint why this is real. If it was the same shot where he jumps over Bats but from a different angle, you would see the fu*king camera behind him idiots. And did you ever consider that maybe he messed up on the trick, and that is why he doesn’t look like he is doing a perfect heel flip according to all skaters on here?

way to let the underlying sarcasm of the comment fly completely over your head. Try reading things thoroughly and critically thinking about them before being a douche on the internet. If you don’t know how to critically think, go back and finish high school.

m.rob

Also, I agree with everyone. This is/isn’t real. Go Raven’s!

bastardo

If you think this is a real photo your IQ is obviously below 80.
Tardfucked asswhipe.

bastardo

Paul are you really that much of an idiot? Seriously man.

El Capitan

Wow. This is absolutely 100% fake and these are the reasons why: in the video that you linked to, the joker is riding regular stance (left foot forward), and in this picture, the joker is riding goofy stance (right foot forward). Even if Heath Ledger was a known skateboarder, based on how he looked in the video, there is no way he was good enough to perform whatever trick this is supposed to be SWITCH-stance. Nor would anyone perform this trick with such a big board, trucks, and wheels, especially not in those DRESS SHOES. Also, that is not a kickflip- the board is spinning the wrong way- it doesn’t look like any real trick. Furthermore, if I’m not mistaken there seems to be a big wire running right along the path of the skateboard, which would make the attempted trick moronic if not impossible. And last but not least, the Joker and his skateboard are missing shadows.

So, this is neither the world’s greatest Photoshop, nor the work of some hardcore skateboarding replica costume enthusiasts, and it is most certainly NOT REAL. Photoshop is all about the details, and whoever did this one missed just about all of them. Case closed.

I’m getting a blowie right now off a girl I met on a site, click my name to see these girls!

Big Al

Regardless of whether it’s real or fake – It’s blatantly an impossible, not a heelflip or kickflip. Frontfoot getting out of the way, backfoot scooping. Given that Heath was an Aussie (a country ingrained with surf & skate culture) he probably started skating in the late 80’s, early 90’s when this trick was at it’s most popular.

Everything else but the skateboard looks real. First, Joker is lookin straight to batman, not skateboard or the line. Jokers feet are in 360 flip position and the boad is doing what looks inward heelflip.

**It’s fake.** Yes HL was known to be an avid skateboarder, and yes he did skate around the set on occasion. But…The image of him jumping has been lifted from the scene in the film where Batman is unconscious. The board has then been shopped’ into the shot.

xXburekXx

you guys are calling him a dumbass but how do you know he isnt messing with you guys, you internet no-lifes cant wait to get mad a t someone or somthing

Sean

It’s a fake and a bad one at that.

Cori

I do think it is real. Heath Ledger was an avid skateboarder so he would have been ABLE to do this, for one. I can’t see at all it being a shop.

The video is a scene that wasn’t included in the movie. So its Heath skateboarding like the Joker would.

MrMagoo

Guys, this is entirely fake. Go play the movie and at 1:22:35 probly about the 17th frame or so you will see EXACTLY where this picture came from.

Sk8r

Fake for so many reasons.

If you think it’s real you must have never even seen a skateboard before. Look at the board compared to their body sizes! The board is about 2x wider than either Joker or Batman’s leg, and the length of the board is as long as Heath’s leg!! Are you kidding me, When did they start putting trucks on snowboards??

This is a screenshot of a different take of the sceen after the chicken match taken while Heath is jumping in the air near batman in triumph (This is the final cut seen in the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKzeAYZMRlU) with a skateboard picture shopped in. Look at the pixelation of the board, it is much more pixelated than the rest of the shot which comes from adjusting the size of the image (to make it look real) too many times.

Also the light source is coming from the left and you should be able to see the shadow of the wheels/trucks on the bottom of the deck of the board but you can’t see any shadow.

Don’t fool yourself. The skateboard just looks all wrong in the picture, which anyone can clearly see after they dismiss their fantasies of Heath Ledger owning up to all of their self-imposed delusions of his grandure.

Johnny is right.. it’s a real photo.. of the stunt doubles .. in the photo the guy is skating goofy and attempts to ollie over him but kicks it away.. in the vid, it’s heath and he’s skating regular stance.. but overall it’s a great image/dream to leave us with.. talented as an actor and skater. R.I.P. Heath L.

AbbsMan

Cant believe this is worth a debate. So shopped it isnt worth explaining the reasons. Fake and Terible atemp of kickflip.

Sk8r

# AbbsManon 12 Jan 2010 at 9:01 am :

“Cant believe this is worth a debate. So shopped it isnt worth explaining the reasons. Fake and Terible atemp of kickflip.”

His feet aren’t in perspective of the flip. Its true that he may have been skating on set, but his feet in that picture do not reflect the way the board was flipped.

andre

Im just gonna throw my two cents in.

In the picture The Joker is skating goofy footed(right foot forward) in the video Ledger is skating regular footed(left foot forward)
would make sense to do a switch flip and skate normal or vice versa.

its fake based on the video, he is skating regular in the video, as well as in lords of dog town. regular means his left foot would be in front. the picture shows him attempting the trick goofy stance. i doubt he would attempt to try a trick over a his co-worker switched stance.